Latch mechanism



Dec. 20, 1955 MARPLE :TAL

LATCH MECHANISM 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 6, 1950 -M Z W5 v NaF W a LATCH MECHANISM I5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 6, 1950 mze if 7/ Mm m 5 M 5 n "w 1MP. k 1 .1 a. um

20, 1955 R. MARPLE ETAL 2,727,774

LATCH MECHANISM Filed y 6, 1 s Sheets-Sheet 3 FTTIIT/VEKS,

United States Patent LATCH MECHANISM Rollo Marple and Albert F. Baker, Jackson, Mich., assignors to Hancock Manufacturing Company, Jackson, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Application July 6, 1950, Serial No. 172,289 6 Claims. (Cl. 292-216) This invention relates to latch mechanisms and, in particular, to deck lid locks for automobiles and the like.

It is an object of the invention to provide a latch mechanism of relatively simple, durable, and economical construction that occupies a minimum of space and creates a minimum of interference with the optimum use of the surrounding space.

Another object is to provide a self-contained latch mechanism that may be readily mounted on the inside of a lid for the rear trunk of an automobile, and which is especially adapted to latch the lid to a keeper that does not project above the sill or deck surface defining the trunk opening.

The present latch mechanism comprises a housing that includes a flat portion with a nose formed therein which pivotally houses a portion of the latch bolt, the keeper engaging portions of the bolt projecting out of the bottom of the nose portion of the cover. Bolt control means are mounted in the housing and tied to the bolt by a tension spring. A suitable actuator operates the bolt control means ad this, in turn, is controlled by the latch handle or lock shank.

Other objects and features will appear in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the rear trunk of an automobile such as may employ the present latch mechanism;

Fig. 2 is a section taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a section taken on line 44 of Fig. 3;

Figs. 5 and 5 are sections similar to Fig. 2, showing the latch mechanism in various stages of opening and closing;

Fig. 7 is a section taken on line 77 of Fig. 5;

Figs. 8, 9, and 10 are plan views of three modified forms of means whereby the key or handle shank actuates the control slide; and

Figs. 11 and 12 are a plan view and a sectional view, respectively, of a modified form of bolt control and a modified actuator for operating the bolt control.

The latch mechanism of this invention is shown in Fig. 1 in conjunction with the lid 1 of the trunk of an automobile. It is controlled in the usual manner by either a key and lock or a pivotal handle 3 that is mounted on the outside of the lid either of which has a shank or control shaft that extends through the lid to the inside of the trunk, as shown in Fig. 2.

The latch mechanism 7 is operatively connected to the shank 5 through the medium of a lever 9 that has a square hole 11 punched therein to receive a square surface on the shank 5 whereby it moves pivotally with the shank. The other end of the lever 9 is slotted at 13. The slot 13 receives a pin 15 carried by one arm of a bell crank lever 17, which is pivotally connected to a cover part 19 of the latch housing by a rivet 21. Clockwise movement of the lever 17 is limited by abutment with an ear 20 struck from the cover 19. The other arm of lever 17 engages the hereinafter-described control slide.

I 2,727,774 Patented Dec. 20, 1955 The latch housing consists of the part 19 and the part 23. Part 23 is adapted to be fixedly secured to the inside face of the lid 1 and to provide on its own inside face a fiat surface. The lower end is therefore provided with laterally formed cars 25 bent at right angles to the lower surface 27 of the part and cutoff to abut against the tapered lower inside face of the lid 1, as shown at 29. The part 23 thus comprises the back plate of the latch housing and has upright or right angle side flanges 31 which receive laterally bent portions 33 on the upright or right angle side flanges 35 of the cover plate 19. The interfitting of the lateral flange portions 33 between the upright flanges 31 serve to space and to fix the lateral position of the cover 19. The longitudinal position of both the cover 19 and the back plate 23 is fixed by a central bolt 37 that shoulders on the outside of the cover 19 and is threaded into or clamped to the lid. The flange portions 33 of the cover are extended longitudinally beyond the flanges 31 of the back plate 23 and bent at 34 in a plane with the lid engaging surfaces of ears 25 to also abut the tapered inside surface of the lid to which they are fixed by bolts 39. The cover 19 has a nose 41 formed therein, the lower side 43 of which is open and disposed at substantially right angles to the flange portions 34. The ridge or top surface of the nose tapers to the open side 43 from the flat portions of the cover.

The latch bolt 45 is pivoted in the nose 41 so that a lower portion thereof extends out the open side 43 to be engageable with a keeper 47 that is secured by bolts 49 to the frame of the trunk adjacent the deck or bottom sill 50 of the opening. It will be noted that keeper 47 is a stamping of generally right angle form and that it does not project above the surface of the sill 50 but rather is below or substantially in the plane of the sill.

The bolt 45 is preferably formed of two pieces of metal that are spot-welded face to face at their lower ends but are spread apart at their upper ends to provide legs 51 that fit between the sides of the nose 41 and are pivoted thereto by the pin 53. The lower end of the bolt 45 is roughly round in side elevation and provided with a hook mouth 55 that fits over the keeper 47 and is defined by a lower lip 57 and an upper lip 59, the lower lip 57 or hook portion generally facing the pivot 53 and the upper lip 59 comprising a toe extending substantially radially with respect to the pivot. The upper portion of the bolt 45, consisting of legs 51, is bounded by a short top surface 61 on each of the legs that is slightly convex and preferably formed on a radius from the axis of pin 53. The legs 51 have an inclined surface 63 at one side thereof. Tabs:65 at the other sides of the legs 51 are bent towards each other to define a holding surface.

The three surfaces 61, 63, and 65 on the latch bolt are engageable with a bottom transverse flange 67 on a slide 69. The slide 69 is fastened to the backing plate 23 for limited longitudinal movement upon the flat surface thereof by means of a rivet 71 that extends through and shoulders upon the sides of a slot 73. The slide 69 has a longitudinal upright or angle flange 75 formed on one side for stilfness and which may also bear against the flange 35 of the cover (Figs. 3 and 4) and on its other side it rides against an ear 77 that is struck inwardly from the back plate 23. These engagements together with the pin 71 serve to allow only longitudinal movement of the slide. Movement of the slide in an upward direction is effected through the engagement of the foot 79 of lever 17 with the underside of a transverse flange 81 on the top of the slide.

Slide 69 is continuously urged in a downward direction by a tension spring 83 that is anchored at one end 85 to the slide and at its other end 87 to the bolt 45.

. The slide 69 comprises laterally offset legs, through the anchor 85 is made on an ear 89 struck laterally from theupper end of the lower slide leg. The anchor is preferably slightly to the left of the axis of the pin 71 so as to tend to force the slide to bear against pin 37 and car 77. The anchor 87 is to a cross pin 91 which extends between bolt legs 51 on the left of the pin 53 so that the spring force urges the bolt in a clockwise or releasing direction.

As to operation, the lid 1 is locked when the latch mechanism 7 and the levers 9 and 17 are in the full line positions of Figs. 1 and 3. In this position, the foot 79 of lever 17 is in its lowermost position, resting on stop 20. The spring 83 is sufficiently stressed in this position so that it holds the flange 81 of the slide 69 in engagement with the foot 79. The keeper 47 is within the mouth 55 of the bolt 45. The slide 69 is in its downmost position so that its lower flange 67 engages the flat surface of the bolt. This engagement prevents clockwise pivoting of the bolt 45 on pin 53, hence torque applied to the lid 1 will not release the bolt and the lid is securely latched in closed position. As may be observed in Fig. 2, the bolt surface 65 may be slightly inclined to the direction of slide movement so that downward movement of the slide tends to pivot the bolt in a counterclockwise direction to insure that the lip 57 is in tight engagement with the keeper 47 and prevent play in the connection. Alternatively, as shown in Fig. 12, hereinafter described, the surface 65 may be parallel to the slide.

in order to unlatch the lid 1, the handle 3 is turned in a clockwise direction to move the levers 9 and 17 to the dotted line positions of Fig. 3. This movement causes the foot 79 to rise and lift the slide 69 to its uppermost position, so that the lower slide flange 67 rises above the flat bolt surface 65. The bolt 45 is then free to pivot on pin 53 and this movement in a clockwise direction is effected by spring 83 which is stretched by lifting of the slide 69. Clockwise movement of the bolt 45 moves the lip 57 from beneath the keeper 47 so that the lid 1 may be swung open. In the event of possible interference with this movement by abutment of the upper lip 59 with the top of the keeper 47, the latter may be apertured at 93, to allow the lip 59 to extend downwardly therein, as-shown in Fig. 5.

lf the handle 3 is turned to its clockwisemost position, as determined by abutment of the rivet 71 with the bottom of the slide slot 73, the slide flange 67 will be lifted out of engagement with any of the bolt surfaces, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 6. If the handle 3 is released while the lid is open, the spring 83 will pull the slide downwardly to the full line position of Fig. 6

wherein the bottom of flange 67 engages bolt surface 63. This movement of the slide also pivots the levers 17 and 9 toward the full line position and thus also slightly pivots the handle in a counterclockwise direction. This is the normal position of the latch mechanism when thelid is open, and it will be observed that the-handle 3may be turned to a closed position which returns levers 9- and 17 to the full line position since the slide will be held in cocked, elevated position by the surface 63 on the bolt.

it will be noted that the increase in radius of the surface 63 from its point of contact with flange 67 toward the surface 61 imposes a resistance to counterclockwise pivoting of the bolt 45 inasmuch as this would require the slide 69 to be lifted against the resistance of spring 83. Under these conditions the spring force is urging the bolt 45 in a clockwise direction so that the lip 59 is below the lip 57. This pivotal movement is preferably limited by engagement of the periphery of the bolt 45 with an inside face of the nose 41 at a point where the nose is of lesser radius with respect to pivot 53, as shown at 95.

During the. course of a closing movement of the lid, the projecting setting lip 59,0f the bolt 45 strikes the inside edge of the aperture-93 in the keeper 47, thus. exertinga torque on the bolt tending to rock-it on pin 53 in a counterclockwise direction. If the closing force applied to the lid is sufficient, this torque will overcome the aforementioned resistance imposed by slide 69 and spring 83 and pivot the bolt 45 so that lip 57 rides under the flange of keeper 47. If not, the lid will rest in an unlatched position wherein the lip 59 engages the walls of the keeper aperture 93, e. g., the position of Fig. 5. When the bolt is pivoted counterclockwise a suflicient distance to allow the slide flange 67 to move downwardly behind the face 65, the closing action is complete, and opening can be effected only by turning the handle 3, as described above.

A modified connection between the shaft 5 and the slide 69 is shown in Fig. 8. In this construction, the bell crank 17, like its prior counterpart 17, is pivoted at 21 to the cover 19 and has a foot 79 which engages the flange 81 on the slide 69. The bell crank 17' has sector teeth 1.01 formed on one end and these are driven by the shaft 5 through the medium of a gear 103 that is mounted thereon. The bell crank 17' may be supported against non-pivotal movement by a rib 105 formed in an extension of the cover 23, indicated at 23. The end of the shaft 5 may be journaled in a suitable bushing 107 that rotates in a bracket 109 provided on the extension 23.

Another type of slide moving connection is shown in Fig. 9. In this construction, the slide 69 is formed with legs 11.5 at opposite ends which are in longitudinal alignment and joined by an offset intermediate portion 117 that enables the slide to move by and be supported laterally against the bolt 37. The slide may also be guided by an ear 1.1.9 that is struck from the cover 19 and which, if desired, may by abutment with a shoulder 121 formed on the upper leg serve as a limit stop for downward movement of the slide. The leg 115 has a slot 123 therein which receives shaft 5 and at its top end is provided with a flange 12:3 that extends inwardly in the direction of cover 19. A cam 127 is secured to the shaft 5 and its periphery engages the flange 125. The cam has a flat 129 on one face which engages the flange when the lid is closed. The other periphery of the cam is of gradually increasing radius so that perferably about l80-270 degrees of rotation is required to raise the slide the necessary amount to elfect unlatching as hereinbefore described. The end of shaft 5 and the cam 127 may be housed in a suitable bracket 131 formed on an extension of the cover back plate 23. In this construction as in the others already described, the key or handle that operates shaft 5 may be returned to closed position when the lid is open without affecting closing and latching of the lid.

Another type of connection for actuating the slide 69' is shown in Fig. 10, it being recognized that the slide of this figure is substantially the same as the slide of Fig. 9. The slide in this construction is capable of limited lateral movement as indicated by the gap 151 between it and the side 35 of the cover flange 19. The lateral movement results from an eccentric pivot connection to the cylinder 153 of the lock that is effected by the screw 157 that extends through an aperture in the top end of the slide to secure it to the end of the cylinder. Since the screw 157 is located on an axis that is not concentric with the axis of the cylinder, rotation of the cylinder 153 by the key causes the slide to rise and fall. The cylinder 153 is rotatably supported by a circular flange 159 that is formed in an extension of the back plate 23.

Another modified form of latch is shown in Figs. 11 and 12. In this modification, the housing 171 for the moving parts is made of a single stamping rather than the two piece unit of cover and backing plate as in the prior modifications. The housing 171 has a similar shape to the housings formed by the cover 19 and backing plate 23 and is thus provided with transverse side flanges 173 on either side of a central longitudinal ridge or arch 175 that is formed therein to provide an elongated recess 177. The side flanges are suitably formed to engage the inside surface of the lid 1 and are secured thereto by the bolts 179 and 181 which correspond to bolts 37 and 39. The recess 177 opens toward the lid 1 and the ridge 175 is joined so that its lower end 183 is nose-shaped, like portion 41 of the cover 19. The same type of bolt and keeper as in the previous modifications are employed in the construction of Figs. 11 and 12 hence they and associated parts are identified by the same reference numbers, the bolt 45 in this case being pivoted in the nose 183 of the housing 171.

In this modification, the slide for controlling the bolt 45 is modified, its function being performed by the pivotal latch 185 which is moved by a slidable or longitudinally connecting rod 187. The latch 185 is pivoted to the nose 183 by the pin 189 on an axis above and to the right of the bolt pin 53. The latch 185 is a stamping and has a radial leg 191 that has an car 193 bent at right angles thereto which engages the peripheral surfaces 61, 63, and 65 of the bolt. The engagement of surface 65 with ear 193 is such that the line of force passes substantially through or below pivot 189 so that there is no danger of forcing the latch 185 to pivot clockwise and release the bolt. It also has another car 195 that is spaced from but substantially in alignment with the surface 61 and which serves as an anchor for the bolt spring 83 which continuously urges the latch and bolt to pivot toward each other, it being observed that, though not shown, the surface 65 may be inclined as in Fig. 2 to create a tendency to take up play between the bolt and keeper. The connecting rod 187 has a jog or offset flange 197 in its lower end which fits in a suitable aperture 199 in the leg 191 of the latch 185 whereby longitudinal movement of the rod pivots the latch to permit or prevent movement of the bolt 45.

The connecting rod 187 is moved in an upward direction against the resistance of the spring 83 by turning of the shaft 5 which takes place when the lock 201 is unlocked by a key. The means connecting the shaft 5 to the top of the rod 187 is attached to the back of the top portion 203 of the housing 171 which is jogged upwardly from the plane of the flanges 173 into the plane of the upper portion of the ridge 175, and it will be noted that the rod 187 extends through the recess 177 provided by ridge 175 and slides on or adjacent the inside surface thereof. The means whereby the shaft 5 moves the slide 187 comprises a cam 205 that is mounted on shaft 5 and which drives the upper leg of the bell crack 207. The rod 187 has a jog or offset flange 209 therein which extends through a suitable aperture in the other leg of the bell crank whereby rocking of the bell crank on its pivot pin 211 results in longitudinal movement of the rod. The shaft 5 and the pin 211 are journaled in the housing 171 and in a suitable retainer plate 213 that may be attached to the back thereof. The operation of the mechanism is self-evident from the previous description as is the fact that the key may be removed from the lock 201 when the lid is open without affecting the position of the latch 185.

From the foregoing embodiments of the invention, it will be realized that it includes various forms within its scope and is not intended to be restricted to the details of construction shown herein by way of illustration.

What is claimed is:

1. A latch mechanism for securing a lid to the sill of an opening, comprising a back plate and a cover plate forming a housing, said back plate having a substantially flat surface adapted to be secured to the lid, a flat surface on said cover plate, means securing said back and cover plates together so that said cover plate flat surface is in closely spaced parallel relation with said back plate, a nose-shaped protuberance on said cover plate, said protuberance having closely spaced sides extending inwardly from said cover plate flat surface a substantial distance, the underside of said protuberance being open, a bolt pivotally mounted within said protuberance for movement transverse to said parallel flat surfaces and having a portion projecting from the open underside of said protuberance, a hook on the projecting portion of said bolt, the bolt being movable between a latching position in which said hook is adapted to engage a keeper and an unlatching position in which the periphery of said bolt engages the inside surface of said protuberance, the pivot of said bolt being spaced a substantial distance inwardly of said flat surfaces, a slide disposed between said flat surfaces, interengaging surfaces connected to said bolt and slide respectively, the slide being movable between a projected position urging said bolt toward its latching position and a retracted position permitting bolt movement toward its unlatching position, means disposed between said fiat surfaces for actuating said slide toward its retracted position, and a tension spring connected between said bolt and slide, said spring being disposed within said protuberance and urging said bolt toward its unlatching position and said slide toward its projected position.

2. The combination according to claim 1, said slide actuating means comprising a bellcrank pivoted to the housing and operably connected to said slide, and a rotary cam operably engaging said bellcrank and adapted to receive a control shaft whereby it may be rotated to move said slide.

3. The combination according to claim 1, said slide being further provided with a flange, said slide actuating means comprising a cam operably engaging said flange and adapted to receive a control shaft whereby it may be rotated to move the slide.

4. The combination according to claim 1, said slide actuating means comprising a bellcrank pivoted to said housing and operably connected to said slide, teeth formed on said bellcrank, and a gear operably engaging said teeth and adapted to receive a control shaft wherby it may be rotated to move the slide.

5. The combination according to claim 1, said slide actuating means comprising a rotary control shaft journaled in said housing, and means for pivoting said slide on said shaft on an axis parallel to but offset from the axis of rotation of said shaft.

6. The combination according to claim 1, further pro vided with a latch pivoted to the sides of said protuberance on an axis spaced from the pivot axis of said bolt, said latch and bolt having engaging surfaces whereby the latch may hold the bolt in latched position, said slide comprising a slidable rod connected to said latch.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 307,281 Farrar Oct. 28, 1884 396,916 Burgess Jan. 29, 1889 469,398 Burns Feb. 23, 1892 849,865 Spencer Apr. 9, 1907 930,534 Cox Aug. 10, 1909 939,694 Hubbard Nov. 9, 1909 1,372,000 Anderson Mar. 22, 1921 1,389,339 Anderson Aug. 30, 1921 2,267,397 Dall Dec. 23, 1941 2,270,559 Rolph et a1. Jan. 20, 1942 2,603,963 Allen July 22, 1952 

